EFFECT OF INBREEDING ON LOIN AND FAT DEPTH IN HUNGARIAN LANDRACE PIGS

Pedigree and field test data - collected between 1997-2005 - were analyzed in a group of 68062 Hungarian Landrace pigs. The analysed traits were loin depth (LD), fat depth1 (FD1) and fat depth2 (FD2). In the present study inbreeding coefficients, pedigree completeness (complete generation equivalents) and inbreeding depression for LD, FD1 and FD2 were estimated. Increasing number of generations that were considered in the pedigree the estimated inbreeding coefficients did not change after the 5th generation, but pedigree completeness was continuously increasing. The estimated inbreeding depression for LD, FD1 and FD2 were different applying 5 different models but the magnitude of the differences was small. Increasing inbreeding coefficient by 10% caused LD decrease by 0.084 mm, the FD1 by 0.062 mm and did not affect FD2. It can be concluded that the estimated inbreeding depression was low and substantial depression can not be expected in the near future. However, the low level of inbreeding of the studied population can partly be explained by the short pedigrees. This suggests that Hungarian pig breeders may often import breeding animals or carry out herd replacements rather than apply within group selection

An adjustable law of motion for relativistic spherical shells

A classical and a relativistic law of motion for an advancing shell are deduced applying the thin layer approximation. A new parameter connected with the quantity of absorbed matter in the expansion is introduced; this allows of matching theory and observation.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures and article in press; Central European Journal of Physics 201

The significance of lipid composition for membrane activity: new concepts and ways of assessing function

In the last decade or so, it has been realised that membranes do not just have a lipid-bilayer structure in which proteins are embedded or with which they associate. Structures are dynamic and contain areas of heterogeneity which are vital for their formation. In this review, we discuss some of the ways in which these dynamic and heterogeneous structures have implications during stress and in relation to certain human diseases. A particular stress is that of temperature which may instigate adaptation in poikilotherms or appropriate defensive responses during fever in mammals. Recent data emphasise the role of membranes in sensing temperature changes and in controlling a regulatory loop with chaperone proteins. This loop seems to need the existence of specific membrane microdomains and also includes association of chaperone (heat stress) proteins with the membrane. The role of microdomains is then discussed further in relation to various human pathologies such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. The concept of modifying membrane lipids (lipid therapy) as a means for treating such pathologies is then introduced. Examples are given when such methods have been shown to have benefit. In order to study membrane microheterogeneity in detail and to elucidate possible molecular mechanisms that account for alteration in membrane function, new methods are needed. In the second part of the review, we discuss ultra-sensitive and ultra-resolution imaging techniques. These include atomic force microscopy, single particle tracking, single particle tracing and various modern fluorescence methods. Finally, we deal with computing simulation of membrane systems. Such methods include coarse-grain techniques and Monte Carlo which offer further advances into molecular dynamics. As computational methods advance they will have more application by revealing the very subtle interactions that take place between the lipid and protein components of membranes – and which are so essential to their function

Membrane fluidity matters: Hyperthermia from the aspects of lipids and membranes

Hyperthermia is a promising treatment modality for cancer in combination both with radio- and chemotherapy. In spite of its great therapeutic potential, the underlying molecular mechanisms still remain to be clarified. Due to lipid imbalances and 'membrane defects' most of the tumour cells possess elevated membrane fluidity. However, further increasing membrane fluidity to sensitise to chemo-or radiotherapy could have some other effects. In fact, hyperfluidisation of cell membrane induced by membrane fluidiser initiates a stress response as the heat shock protein response, which may modulate positively or negatively apoptotic cell death. Overviewing some recent findings based on a technology allowing direct imaging of lipid rafts in live cells and lipidomics, novel aspects of the intimate relationship between the 'membrane stress' of tumour cells and the cellular heat shock response will be highlighted. Our findings lend support to both the importance of membrane remodelling and the release of lipid signals initiating stress protein response, which can operate in tandem to control the extent of the ultimate cellular thermosensitivity. Overall, we suggest that the fluidity variable of membranes should be used as an independent factor for predicting the efficacy of combinational cancer therapies

Heat stress causes spatially-distinct membrane re-modelling in K562 leukemia cells

Cellular membranes respond rapidly to various environmental perturbations. Previously we showed that modulations in membrane fluidity achieved by heat stress (HS) resulted in pronounced membrane organization alterations which could be intimately linked to the expression and cellular distribution of heat shock proteins. Here we examine heat-induced membrane changes using several visualisation methods. With Laurdan two-photon microscopy we demonstrate that, in contrast to the enhanced formation of ordered domains in surface membranes, the molecular disorder is significantly elevated within the internal membranes of cells preexposed to mild HS. These results were compared with those obtained by anisotropy, fluorescence lifetime and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements. All probes detected membrane changes upon HS. However, the structurally different probes revealed substantially distinct alterations in membrane heterogeneity. These data call attention to the careful interpretation of results obtained with only a single label. Subtle changes in membrane microstructure in the decision-making of thermal cell killing could have potential application in cancer therapy

Ammonite stratigraphy of a Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) section on Nagy-Pisznice Hill (Gerecse Mts, Hungary)

Abstract In the Jurassic rocks exposed in a small abandoned quarry on the northwestern edge of Nagy-Pisznice Hill in the Gerecse Mts, fairly well preserved parts of a crocodile skeleton was found in 1996. The bed which yielded the skeletal remains is the uppermost layer of the Kisgerecse Marl Formation exposed here and was determined as belonging to the Upper Toarcian Grammoceras thouarsense Zone. The beds of the sequence above and below were carefully sampled in the late 1990s, and the encountered ammonites were evaluated biostratigraphically. As a result, the Lower Toarcian Harpoceras serpentinum Zone, the Middle Toarcian Hildoceras bifrons and Merlaites gradatus Zones, and the Upper Toarcian Grammoceras thouarsense and Geczyceras speciosum Zones were identified. Within most of these zones the subzones and even the faunal horizons were successfully recognized. The lowermost beds above the underlying Pliensbachian red limestone did not yield any fossils; thus the lowermost Toarcian Dactylioceras tenuicostatum Zone could not be documented. The highest Toarcian ammonite zones also remained unidentified, because the beds of the Tölgyhát Limestone above were not sampled all the way up. This paper presents the lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic details of the sequence, and the paleontological descriptions of the most important ammonites

Modulation of Heat Shock Transcription Factor 1 as a Therapeutic Target for Small Molecule Intervention in Neurodegenerative Disease

A yeast-based small molecule screen identifies a novel activator of human HSF1 and protein chaperone expression and which appears to alleviate the toxicity of protein misfolding diseases